NHRA POWERade Championship: Torco Racing Fuels Nationals, Virginia Motorsports Park, Oct 5-7, 2007

NHRA, VA Motorsports Park, Inet ^ | Oct 2, 2007 | FlAttorney & Co.

[flattorney]

2nd Annual NHRA Torco Racing Fuels Nationals
Virginia Motorsports Park – Richmond, Virginia
October 5 - 7, 2007

NHRA.com's Torco Racing Fuels Nationals homepage

     The NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series returned to Virginia last year with a race that shattered Pro performance barriers, especially in Pro Stock with Jason Line setting the National record that helped him capture the World Championship. This is the last 2007 “Countdown to 4 Championship” race. After this Sunday’s final elimination rounds the field of eight drivers eligible for the championship in each category - Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Stock - is reduced to four for the final two “Countdown to 1 Championship” races of the season. Pro Stock Motorcycles do not race this weekend and their eligible drivers for the championship was reduced to 4 at the O’Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals in Dallas, Sept 23rd.
     Peggy Llewellyn was the superstar in pro stock motorcycles at Dallas winning her first NHRA national event, she became the first black woman to win a NHRA national event, and her earned points bumped her into the final 4 drivers eligible for the championship. In her first year back to NHRA, after a five year absence due to a lack of sponsorship, the San Antonio native pulled off a hole-shot win in the semi-finals to beat Chip Ellis (#3 in points) and another incredible hole-shot win in the finals to beat Andrew Hines (#1 in points). See complete NHRA “Countdown to the Championship” information below. - FlA

Complete Event Schedule
Fri, Oct 5: Pro Qualifying Sessions at 3:30 & 6 pm
Sat, Oct 6: Pro Qualifying Sessions at Noon & 2:30 pm
Sun, Oct 7: Pre-Race Ceremonies, 10 am
Sun, Oct 7: Final Eliminations begin at 11 am

MotorSport-NHRA: Pre & Post Race Driver Interviews & News
NHRA Drivers Blogs
Virginia Motorsports Park Weather Forecast
Richmond Times Dispatch - Sports
ESPN2 TV Coverage (All Times ET)
10/06: Qualifying 7:00 - 8:00 pm
10/07: NHRA Race Day 11:00 - 11:30 am
10/07: Eliminations 7:00 - 10:00 pm
# 10/07: Repeat - Qualifying 1:00 - 2:00 am
# 10/12: Repeat - Eliminations 4:00 - 6:00 am

Paul “The Voice of NHRA” Page will anchor ESPN2’s coverage from Virginia, with outstanding color commentary and analysis by 22-time NHRA Top Fuel and Funny Car winner Mike Dunn. Gary Gerould, Dave Rieff and John Kernan will report the action from the pits. Rieff also will host Sunday’s NHRA Race Day The half-hour program will set the stage for Sunday’s eliminations with driver interviews, features and up-to-the-minute information.

ESPN NHRA homepage

[flattorney]

~ Complete Championship Countdown Information ~

Latest Team Reports
Drivers Profiles
Crew Chiefs - Team Owners Profiles

HOW NHRA’S COUNTDOWN TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP WORKS: The Countdown is composed of three distinct tiers called the Countdown to 8, the Countdown to 4 and the Countdown to 1. COUNTDOWN TO 8 is essentially a 17-race “regular season” in which the full-field of drivers in each pro category is reduced to eight who remain eligible for the 2007 POWERade Series world championship. These top eight drivers in each class will have their points adjusted in 10-point increments with 2,070 to first place and 2,000 to eighth place. The “regular season” will begin at the CARQUEST Auto Parts Winternationals Feb. 8-11 in Pomona and end at the Toyo Tires Nationals Aug. 16-19 in Reading, Pa. COUNTDOWN TO 4 is a four-race “first-round playoff” in which the field of eight remaining drivers eligible for the championship is reduced to four. These top four drivers in each class will have their points adjusted so there are only 30 points separating first from fourth with 3,030 for first and 3,000 for fourth. The “first-round playoffs” will begin at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals Aug. 29-Sept. 3 in Indianapolis and end at the Torco Racing Fuels Nationals Oct. 5-7 in Richmond, Va. COUNTDOWN TO 1 is a two-race “championship” in which the field of four remaining drivers eligible for the championship is reduced to 1, the POWERade Series World Champion. The two races to crown the champion are the ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals Oct. 25-28 in Las Vegas and the Auto Club Finals Nov. 1-4 in Pomona.

Recent Key NHRA FR Threads:
09.29.07 - NHRA Founder Wally Parks Dead at 94
09.23.07 - John Force seriously injured in finish line crash with Kenny Bernstein
- Thread includes crash video, photos, current medical updates on John’s condition, and accident comments by NHRA legend Kenny Bernstein, who was not injured.

(Click banners and logos to go to respective webpage)
See Racing Section on FlAttorney's FR Profile Page
NHRA FR Ping
(Click to hear “The sound of NHRA Top Fuel Drag Racing”)

[flattorney]

I received several pm’s re interest in starting an NHRA Free Republic Event Thread for each of the last three NHRA races. So here ya go for this weekend, and I/we updated the NHRA piece on my FR Profile page in the “Racing” section. Will see how much interest there is here at FR for a NHRA Event thread and then go from here. - Enjoy, FlA

# # #

Unfortunately, I don’t know much about html markup or webpage layouts but luckily I have a great helper (TAB) that does. Hey, I only recently learned what an FR Ping and Ping List was, ugg. I appreciate in advance all help in keeping the NHRA Event Threads going by all you “ground-pounder” racing fanatics. While I have an extensive NHRA and motor sports racing background (my ex-wife said I had a lot of class…. it was just all low), I’m not familiar with this particular NHRA event or Virginia Motorsports Park. I look forward to posts from people that are knowledgeable. In addition to info about this weekends event, I/we put together other related and underlying reference posts, of possible interest, to kick-off this thread.

With NASCAR running at legendary Talladega Superspeedway this Sunday, it may over shadow this NHRA event. But the television coverage doesn't overlap, so Sunday is a great "armchair drivers" day for motor sports adrenaline junkies. I usually attend Daytona and Talladega NASCAR races (mostly the early season races), but had too much on my business plate to try and attend this weekend’s UAW-500, and the weather looks dicey.

=== NASCAR ===
UAW-Ford 500
Talladega Superspeedway
Sunday, October 7, 2007
------
ABC Television Schedule (Times ET)
Pre-Race: Noon-1:00 pm
Race: 1:00-5:00 pm (Live)

=== NHRA ===
Torco Racing Fuels Nationals
Virginia Motorsports Park
Sunday, October 7, 2007
---------
ESPN2 Television Coverage (Times ET)
NHRA Race Day 11:00 - 11:30 am
Final Eliminations 7:00 - 10:00 pm (Delayed)

FlAttorney says >> ESPN's NHRA television race coverage is greatly superior to ABC's NASCAR coverage. ESPN-NHRA's television announcers Paul Page and veteran Top Fuel and Top Funny Car driver Mike Dunn, as color commentator, do an outstanding job in the booth. They have an in-depth knowledge of the sport and neither yap your ears off like most hyper talking bozo sports announcers. Further, the quality and fairness of NHRA drag racing is far superior to NASCAR. Unfortunately, NASCAR racing gets worse every year with its overhyped, overprocessed, overmarketed degradation of the sport along with inconsistent NASCAR officiating and rigged races. Luckily there is enough of the old-guard super legends still active in NHRA racing to maintain the integrity and quality of the sport.
     On the subject, many of these active NHRA legends do not like the NHRA’s new POWERade “Countdown to the Championship” format. Frankly, I don’t like it either and it’s just mass marketing hype, imo. But like many, I am withholding final judgment until after the end of the season. I also don't like NASCAR's Nextel Cup "Chase for the Championship" format. I don't think that a playoff-style format fits motor racing, but maybe I'm showing my age. The only reason for the new NASCAR Championship format was in the hope of increasing television ratings late in the season. But ratings are worse since Nextel became NASCAR’s sponsor in 2004. I don’t think NHRA’s Championship format will help their television ratings either. Basically, all I care about is fair and competitive heads-up racing and to hell with all the hype and bull. I think most veteran race fans and racers share this view.

[flattorney]

Countdown Format Puts Pressure on Some of NHRA's Biggest Names
ESPN-NHRA, by Bill Stephens
October 1, 2007, 8:17 PM ET

This weekend, the door leading to the professional NHRA POWERade championships will be closing much tighter. When racing ends at the Torco Race Fuels Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park on Sunday (final eliminations, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2) in Richmond, Va., the field of title contenders in Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock will be whittled down from eight to four in each category. For some of the sport's most respected and race-ready teams, the door will be shutting altogether.

Of course, this was the motivating factor behind the NHRA's decision to restructure its points system this season. Gradually diminishing the number of drivers eligible to gather in their respective class championships as the 23-race schedule powered its way to a decisive conclusion would undoubtedly mean that past performances or hard-earned reputations wouldn't guarantee overall success. Take a look at the racers on the verge of missing or who have already been ousted from the Countdown to One, which commences at the ACDelco Nationals in Las Vegas in two weeks, and you'll get the picture.

Last season's rookie sensation, J.R. Todd, is now 92 points out of the fourth and final slot in the Top Fuel Countdown standings. Driving for team owner Dexter Tuttle, Todd survived the shakeup at the beginning of the year that saw his veteran crew chief, Jimmy Walsh, move to Kenny Bernstein's new Funny Car effort one race after Todd opened the season with a victory at the Winternationals in Pomona, Calif. Another victory followed in Houston, but heading into Richmond, Todd will need a miraculous comeback to sneak into the top four.

A perennial championship threat, Doug Kalitta has had a dismal 2007. His absence from the Countdown to One is the result of a troubled campaign which has seen him go not only winless this year, but fail to advance to a single final round. A total of nine round wins in the first 20 races of the season is all one needs to know to recognize the degree to which Kalitta has struggled.

Ditto Melanie Troxel, who missed the Countdown to Four after last year's tremendous start to the season which placed her in contention throughout 2006's first half. She might have been the last driver (and the first female) to win the Top Fuel championship under the old points system but a tough stretch down the '06 season's second half ended her potentially historic bid.

Although in the fourth spot in the points, Brandon Bernstein needs to watch his back. Only 21 points behind him is Bob Vandergriff Jr., who is heading for Richmond after a runner-up finish in Dallas last week. Both drivers know what is riding on their Richmond performances and with essentially one round of difference between them, anything can happen.

In Funny Car, the big story is John Force. Although his team announced this past Tuesday that the 14-time POWERade champion would miss the remainder of the season after his frightening crash with Bernstein on Sept. 23, Force was quoted Thursday as saying he intends to return to action before the end of 2007. Force is currently fourth in the points, but unless he stages a miraculous recovery in the next four days from his broken ankle, lacerated knee, broken fingers and dislocated wrist, he'll most likely be dropped from the Countdown to One. All the three drivers directly behind him in the standings -- Ron Capps, Gary Scelzi and Mike Ashley -- have to do is make a qualifying attempt in Richmond, which is worth 10 points, and Force will be bumped out of the Final Four. It would mark the first time since Force's first of 14 championships in 1990 that the all-time NHRA victory leader would be out of the title hunt with three races to go.

Pro Stock's all-time win leader Warren Johnson is on the precipitous edge of missing the CtO. The six-time POWERade champion is 86 points out of fourth place and his son, Kurt Johnson, is also teetering on the brink of Countdown elimination, 29 points behind fourth-place Jeg Coughlin Jr. But perhaps the Pro Stock driver most surprisingly short of CtO eligibility is defending POWERade champion Jason Line, who needs to make up the 18-point difference between Coughlin and himself to remain in place to defend his '06 championship. And he'll have one last shot at that in Richmond.

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, the list of racers who have been cut from the Countdown would make any roster of the category's most formidable and dominating riders in recent history. Last week's action in Dallas determined the 2007 Countdown to One PSM field and some of the names missing from that field are three-time POWERade champion Angelle Sampey; her teammate, 16-time national event winner Antron Brown; two-time national event winner in '07 Karen Stoffer; 2007 Mac Tools U.S. Nationals winner Craig Treble; and 2003 POWERade champion Geno Scali. [NOTE: Two weeks ago Angelle and Antron both lost their US Army sponsorship for next season – FlA]

And so the stage is set for Richmond. Those drag racers who end eliminations in one of the coveted top four spots within their own category standings will head to Las Vegas and perhaps eventually to a POWERade championship. Those who don't will be added to an ever-increasing roster of hopefuls whose hope will have run out.

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?series=8&id=3045366

[flattorney]

It's Time to Get Racy, says Ron Capps
from Don Schumacher Racing (DSR)
10/02/2007

Ron Capps is accustomed to being under the gun, in a pressure-cooker situation, feeling the squeeze - all those cliches we're all tired of hearing. But he also knows it's time to step up to the plate, grab the bull by the horns, go for the gold and give it his all, as this weekend's Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park will determine the top four in each NHRA Pro category who will vie for championships in the two final events of the season, known as the Countdown to One.

After enduring three career seasons in which he's battled to the finish for his first Funny Car championship and came up short, Capps finds himself in familiar territory. The driver of the Brut Revolution Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car is in a precarious position in the 2007 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Countdown to Four playoffs. After leading the regular standings this season by as much as 154 points, Capps is now scratching to get back in the chase from his fifth slot in the rankings.

Fourteen-time champion John Force is sidelined after surviving a crash at the last event in Dallas following his second-round victory and a move into fourth in points. While he recovers from his injuries, the chances of his returning to competition this year are very slim. His resolve to return, however, is well-respected by all his fellow racers, who expect and hope he'll make a quick return. Capps is just three points behind Force; a good qualifying effort could lob Capps into the top four before eliminations even begin on Sunday. Qualifying, of course, is the number-one goal, as every driver in the top eight in points has at one time or another failed to qualify this season.

"Right now I'm really excited," said Capps. "There is going to be a lot of pressure and basically it's who goes the furthest out of the six of us (Capps, Tony Pedregon, Robert Hight, Jack Beckman, Gary Scelzi and Mike Ashley) who will get into it. We just need to have a big race. But it's a perfect time. I told Ace (crew chief Ed McCulloch) that this is a great time for us to get racy. When I say racy I mean to get back in the mode that we were in the beginning of the year, where we roll up there and guys are not happy about racing us. And I think we have that car back (following a successful test session the Monday after the Dallas event).

"This is a great time to go to Richmond. This is going to be as pressure-filled as it gets. Especially for the six guys. Last year, it was our first year back to this track for some time and there were still some issues with the track surface that needed to be addressed. It was a difficult race track because we had a rainout and had to come back and it was freezing cold. "So, I think a lot of the notes we had from last year are just going to be thrown away. It will be a whole different weekend."

As for John Force, "the guy amazes me," said Capps. "We had to test on Monday after Dallas and it was very hard. It was probably the one time I didn't want to drive a Funny Car. But we had to do what we had to do. Knowing John was in the hospital was tough. "We need John Force. We really want to race with him in this Countdown and he just got around us in points. It would have made Virginia that much more exciting. But, I fully expect John Force to make it to Richmond and cheer his team members on. That's just the way he is."

[flattorney]

FlAttorney says >> This weekend I'm pulling for, in order,

Top Fuel: 1. Brandon Bernstein, 2. Whit Bazemore
<> Larry Dixon has already clinched a berth in the “Countdown to 1”
- - (I’m pulling for Larry Dixon [currently #1] to win the 2007 Top Fuel NHRA Championship)

Funny Car: 1. Ron Capps, 2. Gary Schelzi
<> Major fan of both these outstanding individuals. But Ron is who I would like to see take the FC "Wally" this weekend and make the final 4. He had a great regular season (#1 in points) but has not done well in the Countdown.
- - (I’m pulling for Ron Capps to win the 2007 Top Funny Car NHRA Championship)

Pro Stock: I don’t follow Pro Stock, only Pro Stock Motorcycle

[flattorney]

LATEST NEWS

NHRA Founder Wally Parks Goes to the Big Dragstrip in the Sky

Luckily there was no NHRA POWERade Series racing last weekend so the NHRA world had time to digest the death of NHRA founder Wally Parks and 14 time NHRA champion John Force (called the Dale Earnhardt Sr. of drag racing by many) suffering his worst accident in over 30 years of drag racing. Obviously, everyone is hopeful the last three NHRA Championship races will be free of any major incidents. Great photo of Wally and John courtesy of NHRA. - FlA



John Force on Wally Parks Passing
Sunday, September 30, 2007

"I'm laying in the hospital after crashing at Dallas, thinking about Eric Medlen and his dad, like I do every day, and the call came in about the loss of Wally Parks. It saddened my heart. There couldn't be a greater loss for the sport because this is the individual who gave us a dream and gave us a playground. My thoughts and prayers are with the family and I just pray that Wally's legacy continues, that the NHRA's current commanders and chiefs take the sport to the level it deserves. NASCAR did it and, if we all work together, we can do it, too. Wally always said this was a family sport and no one knows that better than me. To have my family here during my recovery and to have my extended family of fans and friends sending their wishes has given me the heart to come back from the worst wreck of my career. If I can, I know I owe it to Wally because he saw something special in drag racing. I love this sport just like he did and we'll always have that bond."

John Force - #1 in Championship wins in NHRA history
John Force Racing Team Owner:
John Force, Top Fuel Funny Car
Robert Hight, Top Fuel Funny Car
Ashley Force, Top Fuel Funny Car

# # #

Don Prudhomme's Comments on Wally Parks
Sunday, September 30, 2007

"I was always very close with Wally and Barbara as they both helped me tremendously in the early days of my career. As a young kid starting out, they both really took me under their wing, giving me advice and we had a special friendship. Both Wally and Barbara meant a whole lot to me. I’ve said before that when I look back at all the people I’ve met, not just in racing, but in life in general, I always think of them as people that I really loved and admired. It’s like losing a member of your family and it goes way beyond racing. Wally’s vision and what he represented is what we are all about. "

Don 'The Snake" Prudhomme:
5 Decades of NHRA Racing
#3 on the NHRA's list of Top 50 Drivers in the history of the sport
4 time NHRA Funny Car Champion
International Motorsports Hall of Fame Inductee
Motorsports Hall of Fame of America Inductee
NHRA Racing Teams owner winning 2 NHRA Top Fuel Championships
- - (2002, 2003) with Larry Dixon behind the wheel.
2007 NHRA Team Owner: Top Fuel Larry Dixon (#1 in Countdown Championship points)
2007 NHRA Team Owner: Top Funny Car Tommy Johnson Jr.

# # #

Don Schumacher on Passing of NHRA Founder Wally Parks
Sunday, September 30, 2007

"Wally Parks was the founder, the inspiration and a role model for an entire industry. Not one of the 85 employees at Don Schumacher Racing would be doing what they do were it not for Wally's vision and commitment to NHRA for the past 56 years. Millions of fans would be spending their time and their resources on other endeavors. "I can't think of any other individual whose vision has been so much responsible for the success of a sports field. Wally had many admirable personal attributes, but his greatest legacy goes beyond the engineering and athletic feats of NHRA's 80,000 members; he is responsible for millions of friendships and careers among enthusiasts of the sport he took from the streets of Southern California to modern facilities throughout the world. "Wally is now reunited with his partner and soul mate Barbara. They will continue to provide a beacon of spiritual guidance for all of us who love drag racing."

Don Schumacher Racing Team Owner:
Tony Schumacher, U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster
Gary Scelzi, Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car
Ron Capps, Brut Revolution Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car
Jack Beckman, Mail Terminal Services Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car
Richie Stevens Jr., Team Mopar/Valspar Dodge Stratus R/T Pro Stock
Antron Brown and Angelle Sampey, U.S. Army Pro Stock Motorcycles

[flattorney]

Latest John Force Update as of Tuesday, 10.02.07 6:00 pm ET

“Sorry again that my ol’ heap let everyone down. Hopefully I will be leaving the hospital tomorrow” – John Force <> Per JFR, once released from Baylor, John will travel to Indianapolis to consult with his crew chiefs about the chassis changes and with Dr. Terry Trammell, an orthopedist specializing in motor racing injuries. Force’s goal is to travel to Richmond, Va., for this week’s TORCO Racing Fuels Nationals to provide moral support for Hight, who is prominently in contention for the $500,000 POWERade Championship. Nevertheless, John said that he will abide by whatever Drs. Jones and Trammell believe is best. - JFR

Compilation Photos by FlA & TAB: John and Kenny’s Ill-fated Run ~ Staging lanes before race; Racing right before finish line; Accident as Force’s car breaks in two - in front of the roll cage - after the finish line; Wrecker taking separated back part of John’s car back to his pits after Force was extracted and airlifted to Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. ~ O’Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals, Dallas Texas, Sunday, September 23, 2007

But hey, John won the race and got the Countdown Championship points. It’s bad enough to get seriously injured but to also lose the race in the process always makes it much worse.
--- Round 2 Top Fuel Funny Car Eliminations ---
Driver | R-Time | E-Time | Speed
(W) John Force (Castrol GTX Mustang) 0.083 NT-No Time
(L) Kenny Bernstein (Monster Energy/Lucas Oil 0.037 DQ-Centerline
(Both cars crashed)

[flattorney]

Hey, maybe John Force – and the rest of the NHRA funny car drivers - should go back to this 1974 Funny Car style (that John’s driving in the photo), where the motor and drive train are behind the driver like in top fuel dragsters. Wild stuff … I love the old Top Fuel racing pics

[NormsRevenge]

NHRA Bump.. Looking good and Good luck with the thread.

[flattorney]

LATEST PRE-RACE DRIVERS NEWS

10.01.07 - Snip from Tony Pedregon Interview by MotorSport.com
(Tony’s currently #1 in Funny Car Countdown points)

- - With important Countdown races on the horizon and in the wake of John Force's incident in Dallas, Pedregon and the Q Horsepower team are implementing changes aimed at improving driver safety and chassis performance. "We are going into Richmond with a new chassis," said Pedregon. "Ideally, we'd like to put a few testing runs on it, but we've done this several times before.In those instances, we've adapted to a new chassis almost immediately.We feel we've hit the limit in terms of the number of runs on our chassis.It's now time to run a new chassis, especially as we go into the Countdown. "We are working in concert with custom chassis manufacturer, Murph McKinney," said Pedregon. "The new chassis will have upgrades to the area in front of the driver's legs that are designed to prevent it from failing like it did in John's accident. It is another step to improve the safety of driver while improving the performance characteristics of the car."

2nd NHRA Article

No Longer Able to Hide in Background, Points Leader Tony Pedregon Eyes Title No. 2
By Rob Geiger Sr., NHRA.com senior editor
10/1/2007
* Read Article *

[Dumpster Baby]

I miss some of the older classics like Wild Willy:

[CTSeditor]

Nice to hear they are having the cars updated with support members around the driver’s cockpit and that John is doing as well as could be expected.

[org.whodat]

Had forgot to check on john this week, he’ll be ok. However, the car design wasn’t the problem, Bernstein fouling and knocking the center marker cones under his left rear tire was.

[diogenes ghost]

The AA/FA's were the most entertaining drag cars ever. Top Fuel engines placed high on a 95" wheelbase.

There are a few websites that have photo galleries of them. I have spent hours on them, remembering, and wishing racing could be like that again.

[diogenes ghost]

"...the car design wasn't the problem."

Uh, yes it was.

The chassis failed, as none have before, even after suffering blown tires.

That is Team Force's second chassis failure this year, one of them fatal.

You can bet NHRA will take a very long, hard, look at that wreckage.

[flattorney]

The Fuel Altered's are still really something. Nostalgia NHRA cars fuel racing has been making a huge comeback the last several years. Current NHRA TF Funny Car driver Del Worsham, his father, and their crew have a lot to do with it. I will make a post on the subject with photos and more later this week. It's great stuff!

[flattorney]

Org.whodat says >>.... However, the car design wasn’t the problem, Bernstein fouling and knocking the center marker cones under his left rear tire was.

Based on the best information currently available, your statement is not accurate. The timing blocks that Kenny hit never touched John's car, and it's been confirmed by NHRA officials, Dallas track eyewitnesses, and experts that have reviewed the video footage of the accident. Below is what I wrote on the FR John Force accident thread re the wreck. Now I am having questions as to what occurred, based on what some of the TF-FC drivers are saying behind-the-scenes, per my next post.

------------------
34 posted on 09/24/2007 7:26:08 AM PDT by flattorney <> Watched the incident frame-by-frame, from several angles, on my DVR late last night. No question in my mind that Force’s car suffered a catastrophic clutch explosion (very rare these days) that had nothing to do with Kenny Bernstein taking out two of the speed trap timing blocks, which both missed John’s car. Later in the 3 hour NHRA program they showed a tow truck taking away the back part of John’s car. From the close-up camera shot, it was cleanly cut in half right at the bottom of the driver’s roll cage. The left tire was intact but had many metal? fragment punctures in it. Noticed right when the accident began to happen there were chunks of metal destroying the rear left side of the car’s body, then as the clutches were letting go the excess revs blew the supercharger - starting a flash blower fire and the burst panel went flying off the car – then the car’s chassis separated right in front of John with the entire back of the car pitching up in the air from the explosion. Noticed after the front 3/4 of John’s car took out Kenny’s car, and finally slid to a stop at the front of the sand trap, I didn’t see any bell housing-clutch can in the car. Imo, this was nothing more than a freak and very rare type of accident that didn’t have anything to do with TF-FC technology. That’s my 3 cents until something official comes out on the subject. Glad John wasn’t hurt worse that he was and Kenny is alright. Hope next season is better for both of them.
---------------------

[38special]

Thank you. I love drag racing. God bless John Force.

[flattorney]

10.02.07 - Behind the Scenes Scuttlebutt
– FlA & JJ

-- From reading and hearing comments by NHRA & IHRA Top Fuel Funny Car drivers these appears to be behind the scenes scuttlebutt and concerns over the nature of John Force’s severe accident at Dallas. It’s mostly coming from drivers that are using chassis from the same shop that built the one John was racing at Dallas when it broke apart without warning. The bitching is about the fact that John Force Racing has not communicated to these drivers what exactly happened at Dallas, and if these drivers should be concerned about their chassis going into the race this weekend at Richmond or other races. To me/us, if the accident was due to what I (FlA) believe i.e. severe clutch explosion and failure of the titanium bellhousing, this is easy to identify in the post-accident forensics, then communicate the findings to any concerned parties, confidentially if necessary.

However, if the accident was due to a failure of John’s chassis due to modifications that JFR made to it, and/or complications from using a newly designed slip-tube chassis - which my understanding is John’s chassis that broke apart was one of these type of ST chassis – then there could be bigger problems and this might explain the lack of communications at this juncture. Personally, I believe that slip-tube funny car chassis - as opposed to a rigid tube-chassis – is crazy and should be banned by the NHRA. Currently there is plenty of discussion by FC drivers that have used both types of chassis i.e. the conventional rigid-tube chassis and the new slip-tube chassis, with various comments pro and con. But more than a few FC drivers and racing chassis engineers have concerns with slip-tube chassis, both their design and lack of proper testing. To go further on this subject gets fairly technical so I will stop here.

I remember years back when NASCAR went through this whole mess with crew chiefs/team owners on chassis rigidity and them making the chassis flex more in the corners to maintain a solid tires footprint so the cars could be driven harder-faster in the corners. The big problem - this was very dangerous uncharted waters and increasing chassis flex caused some drivers to lose control of their cars in the corners resulting in some very serious accidents. Dale Earnhardt Sr. (RIP, darn I still miss him and wished I never attended the 2001 Daytona 500) stated he thought that chassis flex experimentation is what killed his very close friend Neil Bonnett, Feb 11, 1994, when Neil's car slammed into the turn 4 wall (same turn wall that killed Dale), after a right front tire failure, during practice at Daytona International Speedway for the Daytona 500. Dale said Neil had been really bitching how that car handled in the corners for days before the accident.

The macro issue here is that NHRA, unlike NASCAR, allows too much screwing around with chassis modifications by crew chiefs and top fuel chassis makers. NHRA has experienced Top Fuel dragsters snapping in half during runs and it happened to current 2007 Top Fuel Championship points leader Larry Dixon, and others, resulting in serious track accidents. Now there’s major drivers/experts questions over John Force’s funny car snapping in half. NHRA doesn’t have strict detailed regulations on chassis requirements and tear-down inspections like NASCAR. Part of NHRA’s problem has always been that they don’t have the big cash flow like NASCAR to afford some of these “luxuries”. But this is an arena that must be addressed and resolved by NHRA, team owners, and crew chiefs in the off season - even if a chassis failure/new design flaw is not the reason for Force’s accident. If this is all Greek to you, he is a basis article on the two chassis types – The FC Chassis Game